Employers Fear Costs as States Adopt Public Option Health Plans (1)

Businesses are worried that public option health plans taking shape in some states may end up costing them more than the high premiums they already pay.

Employers increasingly have been open to government involvement in the health-care system out of frustration for high costs that they have been largely unable to rein in. But they fear plans being put in place by states could result in higher taxes on them or hurt their own plans by peeling off young, healthier workers.

Employers pay more for health care than any other payers. Since 2010, average family premiums have increased 55%—at ...